Finally

A little cool weather and a little sunshine.

Bright Spot During The Sick Day

I did a double take as I walked through the living room putting things away.

Was that?

I couldn't tell for sure...

It is!
Jack Black on Yo Gabba Gabba!
Strange and perfectly natural all at the same time.
I actually sat down and watched this show.
Now if they put him in the movie version, I'll go see that.

And In The Last Hour Of The Last Day Of The Weekend

Nicholas didn't whine.

Benjamin asked to go to bed before Batman was over.

Elaine ate a second dinner.

Alida only washed her hands once.

And they nearly let me get a good picture of all of them together.

Bad Day Defined

And I quote:

"Noooooo. Not thoooooose cookies mommy. I just want the little, black ones."

(yeah, Oreos)

And so it went

All.

Day.

Long.

Close Your Eyes Grandpa

All this rainy weather makes for great tomato soup nights.

And they can't resist putting down the spoons in the end to get every last drop.

Eight and a Quarter Inches

Did I hear someone say that on the radio this morning, as in that's how much rain we've had?

Anonymous Joyce, I'm not worried about the aquifer.

I have replaced the step stools I had there for the boys to wash their hands with two-tier stools so the girls can reach the faucet. My back is killing me from the repeated calls to come help them wash their hands. Really. How do you scold your child so as to tell them not to wash their hands so much?

Day 2

Home Sick

She really looks it doesn't she?

She keeps throwing a fever at the usual times--morning and early evening. Little cough and sniffles. Right now she is upstairs obsessively washing her hands. Not because she is concerned about the swine flu but because she is obsessed with being able to run the water at will.

On My Porch This Morning

Yikes

The Weekend Outings

Friday night was our first ever outing to Chucky E Cheese with Aunt Cynthia.

The noise is really a bit unnerving.

Alida was fascinated with the dancing rat, and if you look at the screen to the left, that is Nicholas' forehead as he dances on the blue screen.

And I think they liked it, but it is a big jumble of people so after this point I don't have many pictures... We did wind up endlessly playing a shooting game after the girls dumped about 20 coins in the thing. This all happened while Nicholas wandered off and won a jackpot of game tickets out of some other machine.

Saturday we visited Emily and stared out the window watching the flood come down.

(Really, it's getting a bit depressing.)

Poor Nicholas was not in the mood for sugar.

Emily actually got close enough for me to give her a little pat on the back this time. We're making progress.

As always, the new-to-me toys are a great distraction.

And then I gave Ben the camera.

Not terrible.

Thank you friends for helping me entertain the brood.

It kept my entire house from being covered in stickers come Monday morning.

That'll Be Five Dollars

He hung all of his artwork on the fridge for display.

Then he took one down and handed it to me as he told me that it would be $5.

After I handed him my pretend $5, I turned around to give the gift I just purchased to my sweet girl Elaine, who was hanging on my leg screaming because I wasn't holding her while I attended the art show and cooked dinner.

When I turned back around, he handed me another and told me it would be $6.

Smart boy.

Randomness: Imagination Grows

Aren't you cool Alida?

I'm not ready for big girl beds.

Practicing for crib jumping.

I miss vacation.

Transforming into a werewolf.

A werewolf?

I don't think we'll ever have an excellent picture of the four of you together.

October is nearly here!

It is the small things.

There is a coffee cup on the end table--not on the mantel.

Everyone is still in the pajamas we put them to bed in--no blow outs, no one took them off, no wet beds.

Everyone is watching cartoons--no one is hanging off of me while I make breakfast.

We put those shelves on the wall last weekend.

We bought them over two years ago before the girls were born.

This is actually a hilarious moment in time.

Alida has sucked down her muffin and Elaine is taunting her off on the side with her remaining muffin that she doesn't actually want.

More and more we don't bother with the stroller because the boys take it over and we have to push the boys and chase the girls.

Everywhere we go now days, the girls have a clean diaper in their hands.

Here we are at Shiloh National Park.

They are obsessed with pretend diapering.

I find about 20 "dirty" diapers rolled up with socks and different items in them a day. The socks and other items are the dirty part.

Hey. Get Back In There!

Elaine.

Remember just 2 short years ago when we could lay you on the floor, the couch, the whatever, and you would just stay put?

I think you do a little warm up in the crib these days right before you leap out of it.

At will.

Anytime there is light enough to do it.

Stop it. I'm not ready to go crib free. This is not a good time for me.

Farewell Grandma Montana, Really

Grandma Montana blew into town late last week, and she smartly charmed the boys with Transformers.

And the girls were given toys, of course, and read many books.
And grandma likes getting her picture taken about as much as I do. So we'll leave that alone now.

Did you notice Elaine wasn't too present on the Saturday outing? She was certainly not feeling well. By Sunday we decided to just stay in. The other kids got out in the yard for a bit of freedom in their pajamas. The "other kids." Am I the only one that thinks it strange to be able to say "the other kids" in reference to my children?

And our smorgasbord might not have been a great idea.

Because Elaine did a little of this.

And Ben did a little of that. And now Benjamin is home today and should be at the doctor right about now.
And we do hope that you are faring well grandma after loving on the kids so much over the weekend right as we begin our first dip in the the cup of cold and flu season.

The Saturday Outing: Don't Go

Grandma Montana was here this weekend. And we hauled her along on the Saturday outing.

More on our visit together later.

And we made the unfortunate mistake of going to My Big Backyard at the Memphis Botanical Garden. You may have seen it when Georgia shared her visit.
It was completely unimaginative.

It was gross.

And the toys were too small.

And there weren't any restrictions on where the kids could go.

And they got wet.

Well, we did get a shot of them all together.

But there were bugs everywhere.

And look at these disgusting, hungry fish.

I wouldn't go if I were you. Definitely don't buy the reasonably-priced membership and go as much as you want.